A tightrope act on jobs, environment in Haywood

One of Western North Carolina's largest employers once again will be attempting to maintain that delicate balance between protecting jobs and protecting the environment as Evergreen Packaging in Haywood County is hoping for nearly $15 million in state grant funding to help meet new federal regulations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued new rules earlier this year that require the Canton-based paper mill, which makes packaging for juice and milk cartons, to replace two old coal-fired boilers with new boilers that will run off of natural gas. The cleaner burning source of energy should mean fewer emissions from the plant. Total cost of the project is estimated at some $50 million over five years.

Officials at Evergreen are seeking help from the state of North Carolina in the form of a $12 million grant from the state's Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund and another $2.8 million in funding from the state Commerce Department, and they have found a friend in N.C. Rep. Michele Presnell, a Republican who represents constituents in Haywood, Madison and Yancey counties.

Presnell is pushing for the grant funds in large part because of the significance of Evergreen Packaging as a major employer in the mountain region. About 1,000 people work at the paper mill, earning an average of $78,300 a year in salary and benefits. "Those jobs are very important. They are good, high-paying jobs," Presnell says.

She also acknowledges that she has some concerns about the timing of the situation. The company is supposed to be in compliance with the new EPA regulations by 2016, but it will take at least 18 months to order and install the new natural gas boilers. The General Assembly is not scheduled to begin meeting in its biennial short session until May, making that timeframe unlikely.

Another complicating factor is that the biggest chunk of change being sought by Evergreen - the $12 million from the Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund - is designed for counties designated as "tier 1" in the state's economic development system. Haywood County is considered "tier 2," which means legislators would have to take additional action for dollars from that fund to flow toward Canton.

The paper mill is no stranger to walking that tightrope between jobs and the environment, and has endured numerous challenges over the year, including under its current identity as Evergreen and in its previous iterations as Blue Ridge Paper and Champion International.

From concerns about dioxins and other pollutants released into the Pigeon River during the paper-making process and worries about water temperature, color and foam to air quality concerns that old-timers would dismiss as "the smell of money," the mill has remained steadfast as a major employer supplying steady jobs with above-average wages to generations of mountain people.

Even those pushing for a cleaner environment say they understand the economic value of Evergreen Packaging as an economic engine; they just want that engine to emit fewer fumes. Julie Mayfield, co-director of the Asheville-based environmental group Western North Carolina Alliance, says her group is looking for a win-win scenario, with the plant remaining in operation but without coal-fired burners - and the pollution that they create.

The Evergreen facility in Haywood County and Duke Energy's plan in Skyland are Western North Carolina's two largest sources of air pollution, Mayfield says. "Moving either one of them off coal is good for the environment of this region and the health of this region," she says.

The Canton paper mill has made many improvements over the past couple decades that are designed to decrease the amount of pollution discharged into the waters of the Pigeon River and the atmosphere surrounding the Haywood County town while enabling the facility to remain open - and to remain an important source of jobs and economic security.

It is our desire to see that trend continue. That's why we urge state and federal officials to work diligently with the folks at Evergreen Packaging to obtain the grants necessary to help pay the costs of replacing the coal-fired burners and, if necessary, to extend the deadline for complying with the new regulations long enough for those grants to come through.

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A tightrope act on jobs, environment in Haywood

One of Western North Carolina's largest employers once again will be attempting to maintain that delicate balance between protecting jobs and protecting the environment as Evergreen Packaging in